Balance: Welcome to a New Year

1st Summer as an Admin! 

It was an amazing summer of learning, collaborating, and presenting. I attended iPadpalooza in Austin, TX, ISTE in Atlanta, GA, and Ed Tech Teacher Summit in Chicago, IL. Each conference helped me grow as an educator and a leader in different ways. Each experience will have a direct impact on my education role in South Berwyn School District 100.

This summer I also spent time with my beautiful 6 month old niece. I learned what it was like to be a "mom of an infant" for a whole day. I learned how she liked to be held; I learned that she'll fall asleep in 5 minutes in her stroller. I learned the painstaking feeling of seeing her sick and not being able to do a thing to make her feel better.

I hosted professional development for my school district, and I also spent several hours behind my desk preparing for 1:1 updates. My fiancé and I bought our first home, and I spent some time catching up with friends and family. I'm busy, we're all busy. Thus, this year in my iCoach Department, our theme is BALANCE.

We are leaders in our professional and personal lives, thus we always have a LOT going on. We cannot continue to learn and grow and be our very best if we don't have a work/life balance. I'm challenging myself, our coaches, and all educators to do the same. Don't forget to focus on yourself, spend time with your loved ones, exercise, and be all that you can be at work. Oh, and check Twitter updates somewhere in between. Schedule times throughout the day to put your device down and enjoy your balanced life.

Have a great school year!

iPadpalooza Austin, TX!

My #iplza14 Story, via iMovie Trailer

Team Apptivators was ready for the Appmazing Race Challenge at +iPadpalooza! Our team included +Sue Gorman +Jenny Grabiec +Kyle Pearce & +Shannon Soger. (We met virtually before the conference, divided up tasks when we arrived, and worked as a team to submit the final video by Noon the last day.) Apptivators ended in 4th place, but the overall experience was incredible! 

Here's a link to the Connect Challenge: New friend Thinglink, +Kasey Bell and the Share Challenge: Our final video on YouTube.

+Sue Gorman & I did a hands-on session "Aurasma is the New QR Code." Over 100 people joined the session, including +Kevin Honeycutt, +Meghan Zigmond, @SAtechnoChic, and @mathycathy! 

Please check out our presentation slides at http://bit.ly/ARiplza14

Finally, here is my first attempt at a Storify! I hope you enjoy my reflection!

If you've read this far, I'd like to conclude with calling iPadpalooza and above the line event. I'm referring to it as an event because it didn't resemble the look or the feel of a conference. iPadpalooza brought significant task redesign (redefinition). Yes, the conference couldn't not have taken place without iPads, but to me it was so much more. Since my experience, I've continued to collaborate with educators I've met via social media. Further, many hours and a few states away, @mrhooker and I met via Google Hangout to brainstorm ideas for a similar event in @SouthBerwyn100.

That being said, save the date for another one-of-a-kind conference with the South Berwyn spin on it... May 8 & May 9, 2015... iEngage: Syncing our Learning! #redefinition